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Pete Gautchier

Author on Reedsy Prompts since Feb, 2024

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101 Stories

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Forgetful Freddie

Weekly Contest #363

Prompt: Begin or end your story with someone standing in the rain or snow.Secondary Prompt: Center your story around a character who is struggling with something no one else in their life knows about. Forgetful Freddie As the kids in my neighborhood would say, “it’s raining cats and dogs today.” I bet most of them would be outside splashing in huge puddles like they were spending a day at the beach. I saw no dogs or cats falling from the sky. Instead for me it was a cold heavenly dam that burst because I was standing in the middle of it. ...

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A Melancholy Forecast-Stormy Weather on the Horizom

Weekly Contest #363

Prompt: Begin or end your story with someone looking out at a body of water (river, ocean sea) A Melancholy Forecast: Stormy Weather on the Horizon A salty mist bathed our faces as we sat upon the edge of the cliff. The sun gleamed its light upon our faces. A gentle breeze gingerly pushed her auburn hair upon her rosy cheeks. We sat in silence for a while gazing out at the endless sea. Its waves serenely undulated across the surface until one could hear the slap of the waters upon the shoreline. A seagull annoyingly flew in front of us a...

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Gone Forever?

Weekly Contest #362

Prompt: Your character wants something they can’t (or shouldn’t) have. Gone Forever? I was not one of those babies born with a golden spoon in my mouth. My mother was a crackhead. I was born in an alley on the west side of Chicago. She left me in a cardboard box as an appetizer for some feral animal. Thankfully, a homeless woman found me and raised me for a while until child services took custody of me. Truthfully, this never happened to me. Maybe this is someone else’s story, but certainly not mine. I was born into a wealthy family. I had a...

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The Four F's of the Culinary Arts: Filets, Flambe', Flames, Fiasco

Weekly Contest #362

Prompt: Include a scene in which someone is cooking, eating, or drinking. Secondary Prompt: Start or end your story with someone making a meal, a recipe, or a cup of tea (for themselves or someone else). The Four F’s of the Culinary Arts: Filets, Flambe’, Flames, Fiasco It was a celebration like no other we would have at our house. I was graduating from high school along with a few of my closest friends. The families agreed to have one huge celebratory party for the five of us graduates. I volunteered my parents to orchestrate the gathe...

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What Was I Waiting For?

Weekly Contest #361

Prompt: Your character reminisces on something that happened many summers ago. What Was I Waiting For? It was midnight. Sleep was running away from me. My thoughts were racing as I had earlier in the day witnessed my son graduating from high school. I was so proud of him. Nostalgia tugged at my heart. I found myself reminiscing about those special days when I was my son’s age. I pulled off the bookshelf my senior high school yearbook. Instinctively, I turned to the page where my photo was. I cringed when I saw it. Inserted into the ...

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Fun Things and Heartstrings

Weekly Contest #361

Prompt: Write a story about summer love.Fun Things and Heartstrings “You throw like a girl!”, I said to her disgustedly.“I am a girl, you bonehead.” Playing catch with Maripat is such a joy for me. And yes, even if she is a girl she is quite the ball player. I have known Maripat now for almost two years. This summer though is turning out to be something really special. She lives across the street from me in a rental house. Her father travels for a living so I am hoping they never move again. Sometimes I wonder if I had spoken too soon when ...

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Professor Schnooz-Breaking Through Schleep (Sleep) Barriers

Weekly Contest #360

Major Prompt: Write about a breakthrough that arrives just in time or much too late.Prompt: Your character wakes up from a dream with a long-awaited idea or answer. Professor Schnooz-Breaking Through Schleep (Sleep) Barriers Attendees of the very first narcolepsy/sleep conference file into the conference center in the town of Sleepy Hollow on the rustic shores of New Bedshire. A speaker dressed in a white lab coat is broadcasting on the auditorium stage. He begins with the announcement; “Welcome to the first annual Narco Meet, Greet and Sl...

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My Last Twenty-Four Hours of Freedom or Something Else?

Weekly Contest #360

Prompt: Write a story about someone whose time is running out. My Last Twenty-Four Hours of Freedom or Something Else? “You are a worm, a wretched maggot!” These are my words I mouthed quietly to myself twenty fours hour before my wedding day to the supposed love of my life. I was referring to my character. I really had misjudged my betrothed. I was a royal mess. Having a bachelor’s party 48 hours earlier watered my discontent about my nuptial intentions. I deliberately imbibed as many pints as I could without retching. I did not antic...

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Thank You for Your Story Submission But...

Weekly Contest #359

Prompt: Your character is waiting or yearning for someone or something. Thank You for Your Story Submission But… “It was the worst of times. It was the best of times.” “You plagiaristic fool! I can’t use that! Dickens would roll over in his grave.” There have been many starts and restarts. Hours have turned into days. Weeks have melded into months. Seasons have come and gone marking the year. Even so I continue to sit at my writing desk mesmerized by an empty computer screen. I try to commend, to cajole and even to chide myself into...

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Illegitimate, But Loved Nonetheless

Weekly Contest #358

Prompt: Write a story about a victory that no one else will ever know about…but that has changed everything.Illegitimate, But Loved Nonetheless It was decades later when I learned that my DNA was not found in an ancestral registry. I thought it would be a good thing to know my genealogical heritage for the sake of my family to come. When I learned that the mail order DNA registry had no matches for me, I became deeply despondent. I confronted my parents about my birth. My one and only family had raised me since I was a young baby. The...

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I Can Do This

Weekly Contest #358

Prompt: Write a story about someone who shouldn’t have made it out…but did. I Can Do This I am an embedded news reporter for the Military Times giving a firsthand personal account of the early days of fighting experienced by Private First-Class H. T. Shirker. Private Shirker covered his face with his hands. All around him he heard the loud noise of grenades and gunfire. He was terrified as he crouched in the dirt. He was alone out in the open field. His comrades were out of sight hiding in the shallow trenched dirt. There was literally n...

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Woof Woof is Not What I am Saying

Weekly Contest #357

Prompt: Write a story from the POV (point of view) of a pet or a loyal companion. Woof Woof is Not What I am Saying A beautiful, heartwarming sight to see. A boy and his dog walking together side by side on the tree-lined boulevard. The dog stops, looking up to the boy and he speaks in English with a slight British accent, “I have to pee. Please take me to the nearest tree.” The boy readily complies by barking “woof, woof, bow wow.” This is just another typical conversation between a boy and a dog. Or is it? I can almost see the look on your...

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Forlorn with Flowers and Forgiveness

Weekly Contest #356

Prompt: Write a story about a character finding something unexpected in the snow, grass, or water.Secondary prompts: Start of end your story with a sensory detail (something that evokes scent, texture, taste, sight, and/or sound). Write the story about the aftermath of someone’s sacrifice. Forlorn with Flowers and Forgiveness The arid breeze was making breathing difficult for Mary Magdeline or Mae as her late father called her. Her nostrils flared at the scent of the earth, dust and metallic odors coming from the rocks and sand of the d...

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Dying to Play Ball

Weekly Contest #355

Prompt: Include a wake or funeral in your story where the mourners have conflicting feelings about the deceased.Dying to Play Ball Wheels are screeching and there is a slopping sound of a mop on the floor. The smell of disinfectant and alcohol permeate the air. “So, how are you feeling today’ Mr. Highhope?” “Still breathing Mr. Clean. Mind if you mop over by the garbage can? My aim ain’t so good these days. Good thing I ain’t the starting pitcher for today’s game.” “Don’t worry about your mess. I have it all under control. I’ll turn on...

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When One Equals Zero

Weekly Contest #354

Prompt: Write about someone who is grappling with loneliness. When One Equals Zero The music and words in my head were so loud it was disrupting my thoughts. “One is the loneliest number you could ever do…” was incessantly chirping away in my brain. I could not get it to stop no matter what I did to distract myself. Then the refrain started in…” One is the loneliest number” over and over again. I clenched my head with my hands. I plugged my ears, but the music was piercing my eardrums. The words would just not stop!I mouthed “Please God,...

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